James Francowas just cast in the Planet of the Apes prequel, which instantly makes me a bit more interested in that movie, but in the meantime he’s also booked a smaller picture. Franco will star in Ricky Stanicky, a comedy by Jeff Bushell, writer of Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

That dubious credit aside, the spec is intentioned as an R-rated ensemble comedy. And while that means The Hangover is inevitably invoked in the description, the story is about “three teens [who] pull a prank and burn down a house in their neighborhood. They create a fake person to take the blame — Ricky Stanicky did it! Twenty years later, we see that the three guys have been using this alibi to get out of every uncomfortable situation in life. When their wives force them to set up a meeting with Stanicky, they hire an actor (Franco).” OK, not actually a bad setup, and with Franco as the ‘imaginary’ character, it could work. [THR]

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